BOSTON (AP) — In what could be major break in the Boston Marathon case, investigators are on the hunt for a man seen in a department store surveillance video dropping off a bag at the site of the bombings, a local politician said Wednesday.

Separately, a law enforcement official confirmed that authorities have found an image of a potential suspect but don't know his name.

The development — less than 48 hours after the attack, which left three people dead and more than 170 wounded — marked a possible turning point in a case that has investigators analyzing photos and videos frame by frame for clues to who carried out the twin bombings and why.

City Council President Stephen Murphy, who said he was briefed by Boston police, said investigators saw the image on surveillance footage they got from a department store near the finish line and matched the findings with witness descriptions of someone leaving the scene.

"I know it's very active and very fluid right now — that they are on the chase," Murphy said. He added: "They may be on the verge of arresting someone, and that's good."

The bombs were crudely fashioned from ordinary kitchen pressure cookers packed with explosives, nails and ball bearings, investigators and others close to the case said. Investigators suspect the devices were then hidden in black duffel bags and left on the ground.

As a result, they were looking for images of someone lugging a dark, heavy bag.

One department store video "has confirmed that a suspect is seen dropping a bag near the point of the second explosion and heading off," Murphy said.

A law enforcement official who was not authorized to discuss the case publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity confirmed only that investigators had an image of a potential suspect whose name was not known to them and who had not been questioned.

Several media outlets reported that a suspect had been identified from surveillance video taken at a Lord & Taylor department store between the sites of the bomb blasts.

The turn of events came with Boston in a state of high excitement over conflicting reports of a breakthrough.

A law enforcement official briefed on the investigation told the AP around midday that a suspect was in custody. The official, who was not authorized to divulge details of the investigation and spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the suspect was expected in federal court. But the FBI and the U.S. attorney's office in Boston said no arrests had been made.

By nightfall, there was no evidence anyone was in custody. No one was taken to court. The law enforcement official, who had affirmed there was a suspect in custody even after federal officials denied it, was unable to obtain any further information or explanation.

At least 14 bombing victims remained in critical condition. Dozens have been released from hospitals, and officials at three hospitals that treated some of the most seriously injured said they expected all their remaining patients to survive.

On Wednesday, investigators in white jumpsuits fanned out across the streets, rooftops and awnings around the blast site in search of clues. They picked through trash cans, plastic cup sleeves and discarded sports drink dispensers.

Boston remained under a heavy security presence, and some people admitted they were nervous about moving about in public spaces.

Tyler King, a personal trainer from Attleboro who works in Boston, said four of five clients canceled on him a day earlier because they were worried about venturing into the city. He took the train in, but "I kind of kept my head on a swivel."

Kenya Nadry, a website designer, took her 5-year-old nephew to a playground.

"There's still some sense of fear, but I feel like Boston's resilient," she said. "The fine men in blue will take care of a lot of it."

Police were stationed on street corners across downtown Boston, while National Guardsmen set up tents on the Boston Common and stationed tactical vehicles.

Dr. Horacio Hojman, associate chief of trauma at Tufts Medical Center, said patients were in surprisingly good spirits when they were brought in.

"Despite what they witnessed, despite what they suffered, despite many of them having life-threatening injuries, their spirits were not broken," he said. "And I think that should probably be the message for all of us — that this horrible act of terror will not bring us down."

President Barack Obama and his challenger in the last election, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, planned to visit Boston on Thursday to attend a service honoring the victims.

The blasts killed 8-year-old Martin Richard, of Boston, and 29-year-old Krystle Campbell, of Medford. The Shenyang Evening News, a state-run Chinese newspaper, identified the third victim as Lu Lingzi, a graduate student at Boston University.

" Yes, Malloy will demand a ban on high-capacity pressure cookers....and very likely current owners will have to register their pressure cookers with the state police, even tho' none have serial numbers. Smaller capacity ones will also be banned if they have features such as a pressure gauge, and large heavy duty handles on the sides and cover (which prevent burns) or have a pressure relief valve. Will that mean my 96 year old mother will have to register the huge pressure cooker she used to can our victory garden fruits and vegetables over 65 years ago...despite the fact that the seal has rotted and a replacement is no longer available? Will she be arrested, convicted and put in prison if she doesn't register it? Even tho' I live in CT but have a pressure cooker at my second home out of state, will I have to register that one too, as a judge has said CT residents would still have to register their high capacity magazines, even if they were stored in another state? Will I be able to sell my cookers to someone in a state that permits them without a background check? All this concern about cooker-control has me totally stressed out! "

" @ John Szczesiul- my sentiment exactly!!!! Finally someone has a meeting of the minds. It's not the weapon that a person chooses, it the crazy maniac behind the plot to maime and kill innocent people. During the entire gun debate, I entered comments regarding the need for mental health for the deranged indviduals behind the weapons. All's everyone focused on was GUNS! GUNS! GUNS! The weapon doesn't sit down one day and derive a sick and demented plan to kill people. It's the sick and demented person who sits down one day and puts the plan together - and no matter what we do, when a person is determined - they usually pull it off. God Bless America "

" It shows an absolute selfish personality to joke about the Boston terrorist murders. You may love your guns, but --please-- have an ounce of decency. Do not make gun control jokes about pressure cookers so soon after the deaths. Your paranoia about owning machine guns has no place in a discussion about such a tragedy as this. "

" You may find humor in some comments, but that is not the case and so far from the truth. It's serious concern for ever greater erosion of our Constitutional rights. It also brings to attention the irrational, emotionally based, knee jerk reactions and ineffective action that targets an inanimate object rather then the nut cases that perpetrate these horrendous crimes. It is already illegal to create homemade bombs and has been for a very long time. Did it stop this person(s) from using them to cause death and destruction. NO! Neither will any of the crazy laws and restrictions that will result from this incident. "

There are people here who will turn any incident, any statement into an opportunity for a Republican rant. This newspaper, Fox News, talk radio all foster this anti liberal atmosphere.

Obama stays in the White House - He's hiding Obama leaves the White House - He's misusing Air Force One.

Yes, unfortunately there are many people here who's first, most important and often only criteria is to determine if the what side of an issue is Republican and then fashion all their arguements around that.

Sad that they would use a terrorist bombing as a political means for taking a cheap shot. "

Please do us all a favor and go away. You are absolutely no different than whiny Obama who threw his unprofessional tantrum because he didn't get his way in taking away more freedoms of the American people.

Your use of the word 'selfish' to describe others who have likened having government control of pressure cookers to the government's control of legally and responsibly-owned guns is the definition of hypocritical. 'Selfish' is someone like yourself who want to tell us how to react to having our freedoms eroded in the name of knee-jerk legislation.

People like you are the reason that other people feel safer with high-capacity weapons protecting their families instead of only being in the hands of criminals. You have no clue about the difference between a 'joke' and intellectual sarcasm. How unfortunate that the comments about pressure cooker control could become reality with the clowns running the circus here in CT and the white house. God help us all. "

" All of you know that people will take Malloy's new gun laws to N-th degree of sarcasm... You better get used to it when Barry 'Bama gets his gun laws passed.Not only will you see humor and sarcasm in terrorist acts that take place in the future, you will begin to see the lack of sympathy for Newtown because this Commie government is using Sandy Hook to exploit this situation to confiscate our guns. Want to see more humor? Ringmaster and Clown Malloy is running the Connecticut circus....but many people in this state don't get it !! "

" @sandy- c'mon man. like chris tingles isn't praying some twentysomething white kid with a shaved head and swastika tattoos gets paraded out for a perp walk. all the lib channels were on that "right wing extremist' slant by 3pm on monday. "

" @Sbn..... You sound the same as what you chastise others for who do not share your views. Where is your sympathy for the victims? Are the 3 fatalities any less dead? Were they killed politely enough to cater to your beliefs? They were pressure cookers reconfigured into IEDs designed to kill and cause maximum damage, so they were designed for killing.You are out of your element here and should think about your comments before stepping in an arena you know nothing about. "

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